EXPLORING EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS RESPONSES TO HOMELESSNESS

SYSTEMS PLANNING FOR TARGETED GROUPS
ABOUT HOMEWARD TRUST
Edmonton is a city with strong traditions in planning and collaboration around issues
of affordable housing and homelessness, of which Homeward Trust has been an active
participant in both its current form and through the work of its predecessor organizations
(the Edmonton Joint Planning Committee on Housing and the Edmonton Housing
Trust Fund) which merged in 2007. Moreover, the organization was created with a unique
structure that ingrains acknowledgement of the disproportionate impact of homelessness
on Aboriginal peoples in the city: four of nine board members are selected through an
Aboriginal nominating committee with representation from First Nations, Metis and
other Aboriginal government and community stakeholders. This proportion reflects the
fact that nearly 50% of the homeless population enumerated in Edmonton identifies as
Aboriginal (Homeward Trust, 2013; Homeward Trust, 2014). From governance through
to administration, Homeward Trust – in structure and in action – embodies a communitybased
mechanism for attaining the goal of ending homelessness in Edmonton.
Homeward Trust fulfills the role of funder, coordinator and systems planner by leading
initiatives and programs that fulfill the mandates of provincial², municipal³ and
community plans⁴. In the role of funder, Homeward Trust administers funds on behalf
of the three orders of government to support programs, projects and capital investments
that are designed to help people find permanent housing and build better lives. As a
coordinating organization, Homeward Trust supports local adoption of evidencebased
practices, programs and services that help individuals/families find housing and
supports that enable them to maintain stability. Homeward Trust manages the Housing
First program, which has seen over 5,000 people housed through multiple communitybased
agencies since the program’s inception in 2009 with funding that followed the
Government of Alberta’s release of A Plan for Alberta: Ending Homelessness in 10 Years.
In the role of system planner, Homeward Trust brings together stakeholders to change
how systems interact with each other and the people the community serves. Within this
sphere, Homeward Trust has worked with community partners on multi-stakeholder
system planning initiatives addressing homeless pregnant girls with sexually transmitted
illnesses, housing and supporting heavy users of police services, engaging homeless people
living in parkland areas, reconstructing addiction recovery pathways for homeless people,
coordinating a winter warming and emergency response program, moving homeless
families from emergency accommodation in hotels to homes and co-creating discharge
planning protocols for release from hospital, among numerous others. This expertise in
systems and community planning was a key reason why Homeward Trust has played a
leadership role in taking action on youth homelessness, including the development of the
Youth Strategy and formation of the Youth Systems Committee.
In the role of funder,
Homeward Trust
administers funds on
behalf of the three
orders of government
to support programs,
projects and capital
investments that are
designed to help people
find permanent housing
and build better lives.
2. The province of Alberta has developed effective responses to homelessness through legislation of the Social Policy Framework and
Children First, through the implementation of A Plan for Alberta: Ending Homelessness in 10 Years, and the provincial youth plan:
Supporting Healthy and Successful Transitions to Adulthood: A Plan to Prevent and Reduce Youth Homelessness.
3. At the municipal level, homelessness responses are guided by A Place to Call Home: Edmonton’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.
4. At the community level, responses are guided by Edmonton’s Community Plan on Housing and Supports: 2011– 2015.
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